On October 1, 1880, a 25-year-old violinist named John Philip Sousa became the 17th leader of the United States Marine Band, “The President’s Own.” Over the next twelve years he rebuilt its library and instrumentation, drilled it into the country’s premier military band, and wrote marches like “Semper Fidelis” and “The Washington Post” along the way, long before “The Stars and Stripes Forever” made him the March King. This official Marine Corps photograph shows Sousa standing on the podium at center with his band in March 1891, the year before he left to form his own touring ensemble. From the Library of Congress (also held in the Prints and Photographs Division with no known restrictions on publication), public domain.